what a time to be alive
by the milliner's rook
Summary: Surprise! Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me!


Written for Day 7 of HitsuKarin Week 2014. Prompt: Time Machine.

* * *

Out of all the expressions that Karin could have predicted, seeing Toushirou change from his apathetic grumpy face into an expression of startled disbelief with a gaping mouth and bulging eyes to resigned frustration to a disgruntled acceptance, all the while trying too hard that he isn't flustered, she had to say that she could never have predicted _that._

Apparently, her boyfriend and her father know each other.

Well, Toushirou had recognized him at least. Her father was still approaching him, running towards them with arms outstretched and the goofiest expression on his face… and as far as Karin could tell, he was acting the same always he has always has.

"You have the worst luck, Karin." Toushirou growls, lowering his voice and steeling himself for the inevitable encounter that he now dreads for new reasons. His eyes narrow dangerously.

Karin, perfectly oblivious to the details of their prior meeting, can only make an expression of surprised innocence.

"Why?"

Toushirou takes a step back, trying and failing abysmally to maintain his menacing _get away from me you heathen_ glower at the direction of her old man… which has no effect.

Must be genetics.

"First," Toushirou begins, gripping her hand tightly like he's scared for dear life, and speaks through the corner of his mouth, never blinking. "You have Kurosaki for your brother." She watches the red darken on his sharp cheekbones, while his gaze remains fixed on her buffoon goat faced old man. "Now you mean to tell me that you have _Captain_ _Shiba_, the former tenth division's _captain_, for your _father?"_

Well. She didn't know _that._

"Shiba Isshin, really?" Karin says, blankly. She blinks. "Wait, what. _Captain?"_

There is _so much_ that her old man isn't telling her.

"_Toushirou!_ Is that really you?"

Her private conversation is cut short because as always, her father has impeccably bad timing, and prefers to make an outstandingly embarrassing introduction by crushing her boyfriend to his chest.

Karin's pretty sure he can't breathe and watches him choke.

"You are cursed, Karin. _Cursed."_ It's a muffled, strangled plea for help, but Karin has long since resigned herself to ignoring most of her father's actions unless he's so unbearably stupid that she has to knock some sense into him. There is no helping her boyfriend now.

Karin shrugs. "I don't know, they're alright."

She waits a few minutes more before she attempts action and help, delivering a swift and powerful kick to the shins of her old man, because her boyfriend has to breathe _sometime._

This doesn't mean that she'll forget what's happened here. She and Goat Face are having words about this, _so many_ _words._

She kicks him again, stomping her old man on the foot, and to an extent, it works.

Toushirou can now breathe.

The good thing is that her boyfriend can breathe. The bad thing is that now her old man has decided to pick him up in the air and spin him around, to his eternal mortification.

Honestly, it's really hard trying to stifle a smile after watching a scene like that happen right in front of her. It's a mixture of being incredibly painful, awkward, embarrassing and hilarious and Karin tries very hard to be a good girlfriend and keep Toushirou's dignity intact by _not _laughing. It's one of the most difficult challenges she's ever faced.

"Stop it!" Completely serious, Toushirou tries to command him and fails pathetically by virtue of being dangled in her father's arms. "Stop it _now!"_

Karin feels bad for him. She does.

But it's getting harder and harder to bite down her smile.

Predictably, her old man, his former _captain_, doesn't listen.

Instead, he's beaming like the sun is shining out of his ass… and, apparently, this is a reunion, so Karin doesn't know what exactly she should do. After all, this was meant for her boyfriend to meet her father, and now, it's taken a direction that she could have never have guessed.

"So you're the man my daughter has decided is worthy enough for her to date!" Her father bellows, and Karin rolls her eyes, because she knew that he would say something as dumb-sounding as that, she just _knew it_.

But she never expected that Toushirou glare angrily at him like a cat.

Actually, he'd always reminded Karin of a Pallas cat, but that was something that she'd never admit aloud.

"_Put me down, Shiba!"_ He roars, absolutely not squeaking in his manliest voice, horribly outraged. _"I thought you were dead!"_

"Circumstances called for it." Her father answers, and with that, lets him go. "Good choice Karin! Kurosaki women have the best taste!"

"Thanks." Karin drily says, side-eying him. So many words were going be exchanged. She wanted the full story, and somehow, she was going to get it.

Besides, she'd really hoped that her old man would stop talking. Right now. This very instant. What she really, really, _really_ didn't need to see was her old man give a thumbs up at her, and then _also _get picked up and swung around because her father is Kurosaki Isshin, and he has never done anything by halves.

"Welcome to the family!" Her father says, ruffling Toushirou's snowy soft hair, and the glare is surprisingly familiar and heart-warming.

"Stop it, _captain._ You're as bad as Matsumoto."

It must have been hilarious and awful, and as soon as Karin gets a chance, she is going to quiz Rangiku for all the juicy details that these two clearly won't tell her.

"Glad to hear that she's picking up the slack."

If there's any comment that would cause Toushirou to foam at the mouth, this one would be it.

Suddenly, her old man is gone, escaping while Toushirou is trying to collect air in his lungs to let loose a furious bellow. They're alone again, and Karin still entirely uncertain at what just happened.

"He _had_ to be your father." Toushirou grumbles, shoulders pinched as he digs his hands deep in his pockets, and Karin, miraculously, feels inexplicably proud of that fact. "You're lucky I like Yuzu."

"She's not so bad." Karin agrees, and then stops to think about what she's just said. In a lot of ways, Yuzu is _worse._ But Toushirou doesn't know that just yet, because Yuzu is very good at making people believe that she is sweet and pure and innocent. Well. She'll let Toushirou keep on believing that it's true. "What did you think?"

He shrugs, digging his hands in his pockets. "It could have gone better."

"Could have gone worse too." She says, pulling him closer for a hug, and then looks at him, deadly serious. "So, when were you going to tell me that you two had a history together? Care to share any special memories you have of him?"

Toushirou is silent for a really long time.

"Details. I want them." Karin murmurs, deciding to twine her arms around his neck and pull him closer for a kiss. She's not afraid to play dirty. "Don't make me ask Ran-chan."

"Later, I promise." Toushirou murmurs, his eyes a perfect shade of blue and green, and he stands flush against her, and Karin could get distracted by his kisses for a little while.

That is, until she snickers.

"Can you imagine being called Kurosaki Toushirou?" And she can hear the smile in her own voice, feels the way her mouth curves against his ear, and loves the tell-tale huff of annoyance and the grimace that he is inevitably trying to repress. "If it happened to the former captain, it could happen to—"

"_Quiet."_ He says, and starts kissing her again, her neck, her cheek, her mouth, and takes the laughter out of her as best he can. This time, he distracts her successfully, and she lets him because it's a win-win situation.

At some point they are going to talk about everything that's happened today.

But it can wait.


End file.
